Putting ‘spectacle’ wows Cook
Faxon, Armour also impressed by scene, way to promote golf
John Cook won 11 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1992 Las Vegas Invitational at TPC Summerlin, but he might never have seen anything like this week’s Major Series of Putting.
Cook is a competitor in the All-pro Putting Championship being played on 18 synthetic green holes in a popup putting stadium located adjacent to Planet Hollywood.
“A spectacle is exactly what this is, and there’s no better place to have it than Las Vegas,” Cook said. “The city already has the World Series of Poker so now we have the Major Series of Putting, and it goes hand in hand. It really correlates to each event.”
The two-day All-pro Championship features a total purse of $50,000 and a first prize of $15,000. Faxon is the official host and got involved early when MSOP founder Guillaume Beland approached him with the idea. Fellow PGA Tour Champions players Brad Faxon and Tommy Armour III and other male and female professionals of varying levels are also in the field.
“I heard about the idea a couple years ago and I was maybe a little apprehensive at first and skeptical, but every time I spent more time with Guillaume and his team I started to think, ‘Yeah, this thing could work,’ ” Faxon said. “It seems like this would only work in Las Vegas, doesn’t it?
“I think every player will be nervous when they start the round, especially those players who don’t compete week in and week out like Tommy, John and I do. Everybody knows what it’s like over a 3-foot putt when you have to make it, whether it’s on synthetic turf or a real green. You get a little bit nervous and little bit excited, and that’s what it will be like out here.”
Armour is involved with the new exclusive Summit community in Summerlin that features a Tom Fazio course and is a fan of anything that can help grow golf.
“Anything that promotes golf I am down with, and I think this is going to be fun,” Armour said. “It’s a big stage for more golf.”
Putting Rebel
Former UNLV golfer Taylor Montgomery earned $75,000 for winning the Stroke Play Championship played Saturday and Sunday. The event featured 108 holes of competition and Montgomery only had two three putts throughout the event.
“It’s crazy that I won, and it’s a really cool event,” Montgomery said. “Something I noticed is the course is always changing even though the tees and holes are the same. People walking on it changes it, and the course seems to be getting faster. But then they sweep it and it gets slower. Having good speed on your putts is key.”
Montgomery is also playing in the All-pro Championship and considering entering this weekend’s One Putt for One Drop high stakes event that has an $11,000 entry fee.
Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt is a two-time author who has covered golf in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @ Lvgolfinsider. his next moves involve hiring people in soccer operations that share his vision.
“When you think Vegas, what do you think? You think fast, fun, furious. Going for the goal, a high-scoring soccer fiesta,” Lashbrook said. “It’s a riskier style of play. It’s highrisk, high-reward. But that’s 100 percent what we want to do.”
Lashbrook is working to vet coaching and soccer operations candidates and even beginning to recruit players, with a goal of some announcements in the coming weeks. He said his ideal coaching candidate will not only bring the style of soccer he wants but embrace the challenge of starting a team from scratch.
“We’re doing an incredibly thorough search and we’re pushing the envelope on who our candidate pool is,” Lashbrook said. “There’s a lot of American teams that have limited what their pool is, and we believe that with the diversity of Las Vegas and the diversity of what our roster is going to be, we need to have a more diverse candidate pool as well.”
The team will be able to sign players from anywhere in the “Wild West” that is international soccer, Lashbrook said. He hopes to have a roster with players from all over the world but also wants the team to have some local ties.
“There’s 2.2 million people here, and I think there’s a lot of talent here,” Lashbrook said. “And I think part of our responsibility coming in as a professional soccer team is to help that talent.”
Players are scheduled to report in January. The team will host at least a few exhibitions at Cashman Field, and Lashbrook thinks the venue fits perfectly with his desired style of play. The Lights’ field at Cashman will be 80 yards wide, much wider than the minimum width of 50 yards specified by FIFA.
“With 80 yards we get more frontrow seats, and we also allow the game to open up,” Lashbrook said. “We’re going to make visiting teams come into the hottest market at the hottest time of the year, playing on the widest field, and play a team built for speed. What’s that going to result in? That’s going to result in more goals.”
This much is clear: Lashbrook isn’t going to settle for a lot of 1-0 games on his home turf.
Season tickets
To go with the Lights logo announcement, the team also revealed its season ticket pricing Monday, starting at $200. Fans who purchase full season tickets will be able to attend all the team’s regular-season home games, as well as any exhibitions.
With the team’s schedule yet to be released, the Lights said tickets would cover “20-plus” home matches.
“We’ll do several high-profile exhibitions in February,” Lashbrook said. “Our goal is to bring Major League Soccer teams in for our preseason and host them here in Las Vegas to launch our season.”
The Lights also will give anyone who purchases season tickets a free jersey.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@ reviewjournal.com. Follow@ Bensgotz on Twitter.